Democratisation of Water Management as a Way To Reclaiming Public Water: The Tamil Nadu Experience

While there are many interesting stories of social and political movements forcing democratisation of water systems in different countries of the world, there are few examples of situations when a government department itself decided to experiment with democratizing water management. One such ongoing experiment has been going on in the rural water supply division, the Tamil Nadu Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Programme (TNRWSSP) of the Tamil Nadu Water Supplies and Drainage Board (TWAD) in South India. This paper shows that when a governmental agency mandated with the duty of providing water tries to evolve an open ended, mutually empowering and democratic relationship with citizens and local groups, the process can actually result in improving the quality of services provided to the satisfaction of all concerned in a manner which does not affect the financial or ecological sustainability.